Apple smartphone shipment share hits bottom, lowest in 2 years

[Artdeco]

I don't think catering to tinkerers with jailbreaking and experimental designs is going to help. Just ask Samsung how many people bought a Galaxy Note Edge.

Agreed, it's a purely selfish reason on my part, I enjoyed having phones no one else has heard of or seen, I miss the days when they marketed to early adopters, not necessarily Apple, but awesome phones like the HTC HD2, etc...

 

[Commodus]

Agreed, it's a purely selfish reason on my part, I enjoyed having phones no one else has heard of or seen, I miss the days when they marketed to early adopters, not necessarily Apple, but awesome phones like the HTC HD2, etc...

I know what you mean. I just remember that Apple's goal is to make a device "for the rest of us" -- it's always thinking about what's accessible rather than what scratches the itch of power users. Apple's pricing isn't exactly proletarian, of course, but there's no question that it's aiming at a broad audience among those who can afford its gear.

 

[blairharrington]

Start another line of phones, call them a "hobby" take some chances, develop manufacturing techniques on small batches, take some risks, God knows they can afford it.

Allow us to jailbreak, lose the software warranty, keep a hardware warranty. I'd sign off on a user agreement to that effect.

Sorry Apple, I was a super fan, but I've gone back to Android phone & Wear, going to sit out at least 1 gen, maybe more, till they start taking some chances again. Until a decent Android tablet shows up, I'll stick with the iPad, likely to get a used 12" Pro soon.

I think for me, after cleaning my toys and noticing what I had was essentially a collection of different sizes of tablets from Apple sort of freaked me out, an iPod Touch, iPad Mini, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and a 9.7" iPad. That's not innovation.

All that being said, 50 billion in sales, and 10 billion in profit is an insane amount of money, and perhaps suggesting Apple is in decline is just silly...

Sorry but I think some of these are horrible ideas.

Apple doesn't need another line of phones. They need to make a select few that cater to everybody. Hence why now they come in 3 distinct sizes.

The next iPhone will start at 32 GB. That's going to be enough for a lot of consumers. It's a disgrace they stayed with 16 GB as the base for this long but once it hits 32 GB this fall most people will stop bitching.

They will never okay jailbreaking.

Their success to date since the iPhone has been amazing. There is nothing to worry about just yet. Unless they release a clunker of a device that runs iOS I would not worry about a thing.

But I do think what happens from now until the fall of 2017 will be hugely important. There is no clear indication of what they will do with the iPhone this fall.

 

[quikah]

Someone needs to come up with a new use case for phones. The social media device we have now is complete. Larger screen, more storage, etc are just minor tweaks, not going to spur any sort of blockbuster sales

 

[Artdeco]

Sorry but I think some of these are horrible ideas.

Apple doesn't need another line of phones. They need to make a select few that cater to everybody. Hence why now they come in 3 distinct sizes.

The next iPhone will start at 32 GB. That's going to be enough for a lot of consumers. It's a disgrace they stayed with 16 GB as the base for this long but once it hits 32 GB this fall most people will stop bitching.

They will never okay jailbreaking.

Their success to date since the iPhone has been amazing. There is nothing to worry about just yet. Unless they release a clunker of a device that runs iOS I would not worry about a thing.

But I do think what happens from now until the fall of 2017 will be hugely important. There is no clear indication of what they will do with the iPhone this fall.

I know, like I said, it's my selfish list, it's what I want 🙂

I don't think they're even close to in trouble, TBH, but they need to step up their game, I get tired of stupid problems with iCloud, getting nickel and dimed to death if I need genuine Apple accessories, the pricing tier for different amounts of memory is getting to me too, constantly signing into the App Store even though I use the fingerprint scanner, no scanner on my MB, on and on...

As far as getting the last possible penny out of consumers, they're doing a great job.

 

[blairharrington]

I know, like I said, it's my selfish list, it's what I want 🙂

I don't think they're even close to in trouble, TBH, but they need to step up their game, I get tired of stupid problems with iCloud, getting nickel and dimed to death if I need genuine Apple accessories, the pricing tier for different amounts of memory is getting to me too, constantly signing into the App Store even though I use the fingerprint scanner, no scanner on my MB, on and on...

As far as getting the last possible penny out of consumers, they're doing a great job.

What iCloud problems do you have?

 

[Artdeco]

When I restore a backup, it takes forever, and it's typically incomplete, I have a couple grayed out icons now from th last restore.

 

[Oyeve]

I know, like I said, it's my selfish list, it's what I want 🙂

I don't think they're even close to in trouble, TBH, but they need to step up their game, I get tired of stupid problems with iCloud, getting nickel and dimed to death if I need genuine Apple accessories, the pricing tier for different amounts of memory is getting to me too, constantly signing into the App Store even though I use the fingerprint scanner, no scanner on my MB, on and on...

As far as getting the last possible penny out of consumers, they're doing a great job.

And the constant imessage outages and problems. Can't forget that.

 

[shabby]

Wireless is also inefficient and wasteful.

Pffft please, an extra dime a year isn't wasteful. This isn't a wireless dryer or tesla.

 

[Commodus]

Pffft please, an extra dime a year isn't wasteful. This isn't a wireless dryer or tesla.

I don't think that's necessarily the issue. It's more the speed. Up until Qi's fast wireless charging spec came out this year, your choice was to charge quickly or charge wirelessly... not both. If you're only home for 20 minutes before you head out again, would you rather get a significant chunk of your battery life back or just a tiny amount?

That's probably one of the big reasons why Apple hasn't embraced wireless charging (that and aluminum shells aren't usually friendly to the technology). Until this year, it was only a good experience if you had extra time to top up. If you can get charging times as good or better as you can with a cable, that's when it starts to be truly compelling.

 

[dawheat]

I don't think that's necessarily the issue. It's more the speed. Up until Qi's fast wireless charging spec came out this year, your choice was to charge quickly or charge wirelessly... not both. If you're only home for 20 minutes before you head out again, would you rather get a significant chunk of your battery life back or just a tiny amount?

That's probably one of the big reasons why Apple hasn't embraced wireless charging (that and aluminum shells aren't usually friendly to the technology). Until this year, it was only a good experience if you had extra time to top up. If you can get charging times as good or better as you can with a cable, that's when it starts to be truly compelling.

Last year technically 🙂

Fast wireless charging works fine on my Note 5.

 

[shabby]

I don't think that's necessarily the issue. It's more the speed. Up until Qi's fast wireless charging spec came out this year, your choice was to charge quickly or charge wirelessly... not both. If you're only home for 20 minutes before you head out again, would you rather get a significant chunk of your battery life back or just a tiny amount?

No one mentioned speed, just inefficiencies, the extra money you waste per year using a wireless charger is peanuts.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I don't think that's necessarily the issue. It's more the speed. Up until Qi's fast wireless charging spec came out this year, your choice was to charge quickly or charge wirelessly... not both. If you're only home for 20 minutes before you head out again, would you rather get a significant chunk of your battery life back or just a tiny amount?

That's probably one of the big reasons why Apple hasn't embraced wireless charging (that and aluminum shells aren't usually friendly to the technology). Until this year, it was only a good experience if you had extra time to top up. If you can get charging times as good or better as you can with a cable, that's when it starts to be truly compelling.

Uh, Apple really doesn't sell quickcharging as an iPhone feature as it is. Heck you need an iPad charger to do it, the one that comes with it won't.

The reason Apple devices don't wireless charge like Android devices do is because Qi is a standard, which means they can't rape people on 100% margin accessories.

 

[Commodus]

Uh, Apple really doesn't sell quickcharging as an iPhone feature as it is. Heck you need an iPad charger to do it, the one that comes with it won't.

The reason Apple devices don't wireless charge like Android devices do is because Qi is a standard, which means they can't rape people on 100% margin accessories.

Well, it's more like "reasonable charging time" versus "excessively long charging time." Apple doesn't officially do fast charging, but its batteries are small enough that they top up relatively quickly.

And Apple is fine with standards... when they suit its goals. I suspect it'd have a harder time making a proprietary wireless charging standard unless it figures it can do better.

 

[Achtung!]

http://qz.com/674599/apples-stock-is-on-its-worst-slide-in-nearly-two-decades/
Apple’s stock is on its worst slide in nearly two decades

Things are looking worse and worse for Apple. And it's only going to get worse unless Apple finds a new growth engine. Smartphones = no more growth potential.
Samsung still has other areas which may be growth engines in the future. For example, the shipbuilding industry may start to gain speed again next year or when global economic conditions improve. Electric vehicle batteries are another source of profits and revenue for Samsung and this sector will likely explode with growth within the next 5 years. Samsung also provides jet engines and aircraft parts to major aerospace companies. The advantage that Samsung has is that it's diversified.

We can't measure the success of a company just based on profit alone. Once a high profit company hits a wall, they may become bankrupt within 2 years.

What happened to the Apple car? I know that rumors of an Apple car triggered a lot of excitement last year, but it seems like it has died down again..

 

[stlc8tr]

We can't measure the success of a company just based on profit alone. Once a high profit company hits a wall, they may become bankrupt within 2 years.

ROFL.

Let's see how your predication pans out in a couple of years.

 

[thilanliyan]

Apple doesn't officially do fast charging, but its batteries are small enough that they top up relatively quickly.

That's the weirdest "pro" I've seen for a small battery 😀
Might as well make it 100mah..."well, it recharges in 2 mins!!"

Having said that, fast charging is never something I look at when buying a phone. Coming with a substantial battery IS something I look for. Fast charging is useless if you're not around a plug, however, a big battery is useful wherever I am.

 

[Commodus]

What happened to the Apple car? I know that rumors of an Apple car triggered a lot of excitement last year, but it seems like it has died down again..

The leaks/rumors have always had the Apple car arriving around 2019/2020. You're not going to hear much about it until closer to that point. The biggest news as of late is that Apple scored a key Tesla exec.

And as an important note on your Apple death dreams: Apple is a computing technology company. Samsung is a... well, everything company. Shipbuilding and textiles may help the Samsung name survive, but you can't really suggest that Apple get into unrelated fields in order to hedge its bets. The only reason a car isn't a stretch is because cars are quickly becoming technology platforms.

Part of why Apple has recovered and thrived from 1998 onward is its focus. It refuses to have dozens of PC and phone models, or to make extremely specialized products. It does need to reduce its dependency on the iPhone, but simply carpet bombing every category it can isn't going to help.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The leaks/rumors have always had the Apple car arriving around 2019/2020. You're not going to hear much about it until closer to that point. The biggest news as of late is that Apple scored a key Tesla exec.

And as an important note on your Apple death dreams: Apple is a computing technology company. Samsung is a... well, everything company. Shipbuilding and textiles may help the Samsung name survive, but you can't really suggest that Apple get into unrelated fields in order to hedge its bets. The only reason a car isn't a stretch is because cars are quickly becoming technology platforms.

And because Elon might be willing to sell Telsa by 2020. He only cares about the mission, once the Model 3 is a success then Telsa will go into a boring scale-up mode that frankly I don't see him wanting to be a part of and that might need Apple-level funding to fully capitalize on.

 

[Commodus]

That's the weirdest "pro" I've seen for a small battery 😀
Might as well make it 100mah..."well, it recharges in 2 mins!!"

Having said that, fast charging is never something I look at when buying a phone. Coming with a substantial battery IS something I look for. Fast charging is useless if you're not around a plug, however, a big battery is useful wherever I am.

It's a pro because iOS is efficient enough that a smaller battery produces results comparable to what you find on Android. To abuse car analogies: you don't need a big gas tank if your car is very light.

With that said, it'd be nice if Apple was more aggressive on improving battery life. The iPhone 6 Plus and 6s Plus both have great batteries due to their size, but you shouldn't have to go big to guarantee more than a day of juice. There are rumors the iPhone 7 addresses that, so we might find out in a few months.

 

[StrangerGuy]

ROFL.

Let's see how your predication pans out in a couple of years.

If Achtung! is a product of Samsung's usual anti-Apple marketing they simply don't get how constantly putting their archrival in the spotlight for free all the time is so hilariously counterproductive. 😀

 

[stlc8tr]

If Achtung! is a product of Samsung's usual anti-Apple marketing they simply don't get how constantly putting their archrival in the spotlight for free all the time is so hilariously counterproductive. 😀

There might indeed be some harder times for Apple in the next few years but I think the odds of them going bankrupt in the next two years are about as likely as me winning the Powerball main lottery prize. If anything, I think the odds of Samsung Electronics being sold off would be a more likely possibility.

 

[Achtung!]

There might indeed be some harder times for Apple in the next few years but I think the odds of them going bankrupt in the next two years are about as likely as me winning the Powerball main lottery prize. If anything, I think the odds of Samsung Electronics being sold off would be a more likely possibility.

Impossible considering Samsung and Apple are owned by the Korean and US governments, respectively.

 

[Ichinisan]

Impossible considering Samsung and Apple are owned by the Korean and US governments, respectively.

"Owned?"

 

[bearxor]

I believe they will go with the latter. And in 2017 it stays the same thickness but everything changes. (OLED, no home button, reduced bezels, liquidmetal potentially.)

They will not keep the current thick bezels until 2018.

I'm dreading the day Apple eliminates the bezels and home button. I know it's coming but I'm not anxious for it.

It's all subjective though, right? I know a lot of people here hate the iPhone bezels because they think it makes the phone unnecessarily bigger and harder to use but I prefer the symmetry of the design compared to every other phone in my collection, I like being able to hold my phone and know I'm not going to touch the screen like i accidentally do on my other devices, I like the physical response of the home button and I don't think the bottom bezel is any larger than any other android device once you account for the on-screen navigation buttons.

But once Apple decides to get rid of them I won't have much of a choice other than to adapt.